L.L.Bean announced in a letter to its customers last Friday that its products — including its iconic Bean Boots — would no longer be guaranteed for life. Its updated return policy gives customers one year to return purchases, with a receipt. The company, which announced a year ago that it would be evaluating its lifetime guarantee, said that although the return policy had long been a selling point it could no longer continue it due to what Shawn Gorman, L.L.Bean's executive chairman and great-grandson of company founder Leon Leonwood Bean, described as “a small, but growing number of customers” that had been interpreting the guarantee “well beyond its original intent.” L.L.Bean spokeswoman Carolyn Beem told MSNBC the company lost $250 million over the past five years on returned items so worn out they had to be sent to the landfill.

Did L.L.Bean make the right business decision in ending the lifetime guarantee for its products?